FAQs

Comments and recommendations are welcome, and should be sent to Julia Puebla Fortier, list manager.
 
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Table of Contents

1.1 What is a listserv?
1.2 What are the posting guidelines for a PLN listserv?
1.3 Why is the listserv moderated?
1.4 How do I subscribe/post messages to the listserv?
1.5 How do I manage my subscription?
1.6 What is the digest form?
1.7 Is there a listserv archive?
1.8 Where do I send administrative questions/complaints/requests?

1.1 What is a listserv?
A Peer Learning Network listserv is a moderated discussion group sponsored by DiversityRx.org. The purpose of a PLN listserv is to serve as an online community for people interested in a particular topic. Participants can raise issues, ask questions, share information and resources and network with each other around the topic of the PLN listserv they have joined. For more information about Peer Learning Networks and a list of topics, please visit the description page.
 
The sponsor of Peer Learning Networks is the ‘Your Voice’ project of DiveristyRx.org, a non-profit project of the Tides Center. Since 1997, the mission of DiversityRx has been to inform, educate and support a growing field of health care providers, policymakers, researchers and advocates working to design and implement health services that are responsive to the cultural and linguistic differences presented by minority, immigrant, and indigenous communities. The mission of DiversityRx is currently carried out through a website, several listservs, and as a co-producer of a biennial national conference series.
 

1.2 What are the guidelines for posting on the listserv?
Because a Peer Learning Network listserv is a moderated group, all posts that are submitted to the list must be approved by the list manager before they can be distributed to the entire subscribership. This moderation is primarily to screen for spam, duplicated messages, and messages that are better sent to a specific individual rather than the whole list. 
 
The following kinds of postings may be rejected by the moderator:
• Private posts to individual list members (unless they're a clear benefit to the list as a whole)
• Obvious advertisement of products/services by a for-profit entity. Similarly, too many advertisements for the same product or service by a non-profit entity.
• Administrative questions (please email these directly to Julia Puebla Fortier at diversityRx (at sign) gmail (dot) com
• One-liner emails ( “Thanks!” or “Great resource”) We value courtesy and appreciation, but it gets tedious to see too many emails like that, so they will be politely returned to you.

When posting a message to the list, be sure to consider the following:

Subject headers: Sometimes you will start a conversation about a topic on the listserv, and the best thing to do is write a subject header that best describes what you’re writing about.
However, if you are posting something that is more like an FYI, please start your subject line with the appropriate subject header.  For example, if your posting is related to an upcoming conference, your subject header should begin: “Conference: interpreter conference in Hawaii “(or similar). If it is a news item, the subject heading should begin: “News: legislators approve reimbursement for all interpreter services”
 

Recommended subject headers include:
 
News
Conference/Event
Analysis
Resource
Question
Journal article
etc.
 

The rest of your subject line:  If you're going to post an email to the list, the title of your message should be clear enough to convey the purpose of that message. For example, if I have a question regarding how to start an adult literacy program, you don’t want to title the message as "Question" or "Help." A much clearer title would be something like “Question: Training doctors to work with interpreters” or "Query: Looking for Spanish diabetes programs.” Or, if you're going to post your first message to the list, you might want to say "Introduction: Bill Gates" (assuming your name is Bill Gates, of course) instead of just saying "Intro" or "Hello." Clear message titles are important because many PLN members receive hundreds of emails a day. So if you want to be sure your message gets a close look, your title should be clear and should stand out.

Try to avoid posting huge messages:  You should always say what you want to say, but don't post messages that drag on for pages unless you've got a really good reason for it. Long messages are slower to process and can cause bottlenecks in the listserver. So if you want to announce that you've got a call for registration for a conference, post a summary and let us know how to get a copy of it, instead of posting the entire conference program.

Trimming older messages from your new message:  Often when there's a discussion on the list, people will post replies to a message and include the older message in their email. This is often a good idea if you want to let people know the context of your reply. However, please trim the size of the original message - there's no reason to repost the entire original, since we've all seen it before. Instead, include the highlights and key points to which you're responding. And NEVER respond with an entire daily digest of messages tacked to the bottom of the message - emails that large will never be posted due to size constraints. There's also no need to respond with a post that says "Yes, I agree," or "me too" and nothing else. If you're going to post a message, make sure that message is adding to the conversation. :-)

Responding to another message: private vs. public posting:  Ideally, when a person posts a message to the list, we all want to see responses posted, assuming the original poster hasn't requested that the responses be private. When you respond to a message, the mailing list system is set up in such a way that your response will go automatically back to the whole listserv and NOT to the original author - please be aware of that when you compose your message.

Sign your messages!  All posts to the listserv must be signed with your full name and email address, and preferably your location and what you do.  Be sure to say exactly where you are - for example, if I signed my messages Julia Puebla Fortier, DiversityRx (which I mostly do!), no one will be able to tell if I'm in Arkansas, Australia or anywhere else.  Anonymous postings to listservs are considered rather impolite and won't be posted. Besides, it can make it very difficult for people to respond to you privately, since not everyone uses email reading software that identifies the author's name and email address (as opposed to the listserv's name  and address.) Signing messages is especially important if you're asking a question or are asking people to contact you privately.

Posting regular project updates: If you like to post updates about your particular website or project on a regular basis, don't bombard us with an overabundance of messages. If your project is dynamic enough to merit a posted update every few weeks, then feel free to do it. But if you want to post a message every week just to re-announce your project, even if there aren't substantial changes to it, please hold off and wait until there's something new to announce.

Don't post copyrighted articles without permission: Because this is a public forum accessible to anyone in the world, we would be in violation of copyright laws if any of us posted complete articles from the NY Times, Washington Post, or Reuters. Most commercial news organizations have strict copyright policies that prevent such posting. If you ever want to bring our attention to a copyright-protected article, either write a summary of it and supply the URL for the original story, or quote a few sentences from it. Never post copyright-protected articles in full.

Never post attachments or HTML-encoded messages of any kind:  Attachments are problematic because they often slow the listserv's processors to a crawl because of their size -- not to mention the fact that not all list members have email software that will process your attachments.  So our listserv doesn’t handle attachments. If possible, please post your document on a website and refer people to the URL. Or, ask people to email you privately (NOT on the list) and you can send them the document by email.
 
Don't send autoreply messages to the list:  Autoreply messages (like “I am out of the office until the end of the world....") are the scourge of listservs because list members can be flooded with autoreply messages if the person using it is subscribed to the list. It's also a major hassle to block autoreplies every time someone else posts a message to the list. So if you use an autoreply and it sends multiple messages back to the list, YOU WILL BE PUT INTO HIBERNATION by our automatic bounce software.  And you will have to fix your subscription status yourself (the notification emails warn you before it happens and tell you how to fix it when it does).
 
1.3 Why is the listserv moderated?
Moderating a listserv isn't a requirement, but it often helps a list function smoothly. In an average month, there are several dozen incidents where people try to post emails that are off-topic, commercial advertisements, personal attacks, or even contain virus attachments. The purpose of moderating isn't to control the discussion - instead, it's to make sure that the discussion can occur without any serious distractions getting in the way. I will also occasionally point out the need for courtesy and even-handedness, privately or to the whole list, if it seems like tempers are flaring or people are not being respectful in their postings.
 

1.4 How do I subscribe/post messages to a PLN listserv?
 
To join a PLN listserv:
Please visit the main PLN page and follow the links for each topic.
 
After the server has confirmed your subscription, you’ll receive a welcome message and a password. Please save this password, in case you ever want to change your administrative settings (such as receiving postings in digest format, explained below).

Getting started on the list:
When you join a PLN listserv, please post an introduction of yourself to the group, and feel free to suggest any discussion topics.  You don't have to post a message immediately; many people prefer to follow the conversation for a few weeks in order to get a sense of what's a good topic or question to post.

1.5 How do I manage my subscription?
You can unsubscribe, change your subscription address, temporarily suspend your account, switch to digest form, access the archives etc. from a webpage like this:
 
          http://lists.diversityrx.org/mailman/listinfo/THE-NAME-OF-YOUR-LIST

(please note – that’s not the real URL – you have to insert the name of your list after the last backslash – this will always be in the email address right before the @, eg. for Data-PLN (at sign) diversityRx.org, the name is Data-PLN)

 
You need your password, so don’t lose it (although you can request the password again from the bottom of the page)
 
1.6 What is the digest form?
Because a listserv can be a high-volume at times, you can elect to receive its postings in one large chunk each day. This is the best way to avoid information overload for many people, but it can also slow down one's involvement in the discussion. Also, just FYI – the moderator typically approves all the messages for the day in one batch, so you should only get them once a day.

1.7 Is there a listserv archive?
It’s always a good idea to check the archives before you post a request for information to the list, to see if this subject has been covered before.
 
You will need your password to access the archives.

1.8 Where do I send administrative questions/complaints/requests?
If you can’t get your question answered from the listinfo page mentioned just above, please contact the moderator.  We don’t check this address every day, but will get back to you as soon as possible. If you want to be unsubscribed, you can do this on your own, following the instructions on the listinfo page.
 
 
Many thanks to DigitalDivide for their template of listserv FAQs.